Former Auburn LB ‘dominating’ team interviews at NFL Combine

Amid the hustle of the NFL Combine, Deshaun Davis sat in the interview room with a special new necklace.

The gold chain sitting on his chest has a photo of his great grandmother, Mildred Moore, who passed away a few years ago.

“I always keep her with me,” the former Auburn linebacker said. “She practically helped raise me. I’m just making sure she lives on through me.”

It’s that motivation that helps the Prichard product through the taxing NFL draft process. At 5-foot-11, 234 pound, Davis knows he’s a prospect who “float under the radar” leading up to next month’s draft.

A first-team All-SEC performer who made 116 tackles as a senior, Davis started three years at Auburn.

“I had a lot of production in college,” Davis said. “I feel like I’m a pretty good player and I’m here to show I’m one of those top guys. I want to be one of the top guys in each and every category. That’s what I train to do and that’s I’m going to do.”

His argument to NFL teams is simple.

“It’s my production. Period,” Davis said. “Of course, game tape. I produced well. I know it’s a different type of level but it’s still football. I’m just going to be who I am.”

Games against LSU (career-high 13 tackles) and Georgia (10 tackles) were games Davis hopes NFL teams watch closely. The on-field workouts come Sunday but Davis thinks the process behind closed doors is going well to this point.

Teams want to know about his IQ for the game and how he controlled the defense at Auburn. Scouts and coaches want to see how he diagrams plays on the board “and I’ve been dominating that,” he said.

As far as draft stock goes, Davis is hearing a wide range. It spans from the third round to the sixth.

It’s all about perspective there.

“I tell people all the time, there are going to be some people who go undrafted that go to the Pro Bowl out of this class,” Davis said. “There are going to be some guys in this class who go in the first round who will be out of the league in the first two or three years. The NFL is an individual-based performance business. When you get in, you just have to handle your business. You do your thing, you can stay around as long as you want to.”